مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد رابطه بین عوامل موفقیت بحرانی و عملکرد ایمنی در بخش تولید – الزویر 2018

There is a lack of conceptual models that explain the relationship among critical success factors, internal control and safety performance, especially in the manufacturing sector of Malaysia. The enforcement of internal control is linked to safety performance, and more research is needed to validate this relationship. Unless management identifies the critical success factors that have significant impact on safety and health, safety management systems such as OHSAS 18001 compliance auditing will have little impact on organizations’ safety performance. This study measured organizations’ perceptions on six critical success factors and enforcement of internal control by conducting a survey using a questionnaire given to 300 organizations in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector. Hundred and five organizations participated in this survey with a response rate of 35 percent. The reliability and validity of all the scales were found acceptable. The internal control was found to be the key mediator in the relationship between critical success factors and safety performance. Path analysis using Partial Least Squares (PLS) version 2.0M3 showed that Management Commitment, Employee Involvement, Safety Training and Government Regulation are related with Safety Performance through enforcement of internal control. This study emphasizes the need for enforcement of internal control to achieve outstanding safety performance.

Introduction

Manufacturing industry in Malaysia is among the most hazardous industries due to its unique nature. Factory workers are required to have some basic safety awareness to be sensitive to potential hazards in their workplace. Gherardi and Nicolini (2000) observed that knowledge is handed down from one generation of workforce to another. Therefore, unsafe acts and unsafe conditions any working culture comprises are also passed down, and slowly become part of the organizational culture. In a manufacturing line, the conveyor belting, lifting of materials, performing repetitive work—either standing or sitting throughout the shift, usage of forklifts, and working with machineries are some of the significant sources of potential accidents to workers, if these aspects are not properly supervised and controlled. Furthermore, the attitudes and practices involved in rushing to meet aggressive customer deadlines and attempts to maximize productivity have made manufacturing companies very hazardous workplaces. Workplace accidents result in losses to the economy of Malaysia. Based on Malaysia Social Society Organization (SOCSO) annual report 2012, the statistics showed that the direct cost of accidents amounts to RM 2.02 billion, which is about 0.5 percent of Malaysia Gross Domestic Product (GDP); indirect costs could be much higher (Social Security Organization, 2012). It was an increase of 16.91 percent from the 2011 benefit payment (RM 1.7 billion) (Social Security Organization, 2011) while the figure in 2013 further experienced another 11 percent increase from the figure reported in 2012, amounting to RM 2.2 billion in losses (Social Security Organization, 2013). The recent statistics indicate that the figure in 2014 has seen an 11.2 percent increase from the figure reported in 2013, amounting to RM 2.4 billion in losses (Social Security Organization, 2014). Such an increase in compensation indicates that working conditions in Malaysia have not improved to such a degree as to significantly reduce workplace accidents. According to Biggs et al. (2005), manufacturers tend to have a low awareness of implementing long-term safety practices, and safety issues usually receive the least priority due to cost control. It is similar in Malaysia where employers were constantly reminded not to implement cost cutting measures at the expense of their employees (‘‘Don’t cut costs at expense of safety, companies told”, 2015). An effective safety management system is understood as a set of critical success factors associated with safety, health programs, and activities (Kirwan, 1997).